Thin Lizzy

I've never been much in the habit of replacing old vinyl recordings with CD unless I have to - it just seems like an unnecessary expense although I'm often quite surprised by how much the old LPs have degraded when listening to a newly remastered disk. However, this means that there are large swathes of music in my collection that I rarely listen to as I can't play records in the car. A case in point is Thin Lizzy - a band I really liked and listened to regularly - of which I have one solitary CD, Jailbreak, which I bought because the old album was broken. This changed a fortnight ago when I noticed that their first 3 albums had been re-released - not just in a remastered form but a vastly expanded one with additional tracks and extra material.

Lizzy were probably best known as a hard rock act with the success of Jailbreak and subsequent albums. However, that was their sixth album and their early career is often overlooked. Their initial sound was inspired in a large part by late 1960s power trios such as Cream and, particularly, The Jimi Hendrix Experience. However, this was not the whole story and there is a great influence from Phil Lynott's love of Irish Folk, Celtic Mythology and a general Joycean romanticism of life in working class Dublin. The mix is both intriguing and unique. Their debut album, Thin Lizzy, is a case in point although the influences had yet to meld together; hence we get the very Hendrix influenced Ray-Gun, the more Cream-like Return of the Farmer's Son and the folksy Éire. Only on the closing track, Remembering Pt. 1, do we really hear the whole thing come together into something that might be called Lizzy-esque. The additional tracks on the new CD include the "New Day" EP which I had never heard before: Remembering Pt. 2 and Things Ain't Workin' Out Down at the Farm are probably the most memorable of these. Additionally, there are four tracks which were overdubbed in the late 1970s by their then lead guitarists: Gary Moore and Midge Ure.

I was never that bothered with Lizzy's second album, Shades of a Blue Orphanage, but their third album, Vagabonds of the Western World, is a real surprise classic and the re-released version has lots of worthwhile extras. This was the album where their rock and Irish influences really melded into a coherent whole. Mama Nature Said, The Rocker, Vagabonds of the Western World, Little Girl in Bloom and A Song for While I'm Away are all worthy of a wider audience on their own but it is the bonus material which really stands out here. I've never been able to get a copy of these tracks before and have only ever had them as a taped version of a German-only released EP. Here I Go Again is a laid-back folky-blues, Cruising in the Lizzymobile is a daft funky song whereas Little Darling and Sitamoia are out and out rockers. Sitamoia, in particular, could have been a big hit in its own right; it's very Celtic influenced - somewhat like Emerald from Jailbreak: the track which provided the blueprint for Iron Maiden's twin guitar sound. The album finishes with the single version of Whiskey in the Jar which was a top 10 hit in the UK although disliked by the band - in fairness it was more of a B-side as it is a rocked up version of a traditional Irish drinking song. The second disk on the Vagabonds re-release contains recordings made for the BBC: a mix of John Peel and Bob Harris sessions and live performances for a Radio One concert.



Feeling inspired by these two albums (and needing another disk to fill out the order) I bought Lizzy's Greatest Hits album which was released in 2004. This is actually a very comprehensive collection of Lizzy's more commercial material but still misses some notable tracks from their earlier albums. In fact only The Rocker is featured from the first three albums and the Johnny the Fox album is only represented by Don't Believe a Word. This does mean that some really outstanding tracks are missed such as For Those Who Love to Live from Fighting, Sha La La from Nightlife and most of the Johnny album. Still, they make a good crack of the rest with a brilliant live version of Emerald (see the video above) but it is noticeable that the Irish influences drop off as time progresses until the tracks from the final Thunder and Lightning album are totally Metalled-out. They aren't bad tracks by any means but they do lose their distinctive Irish feel. However, I thought the inclusion of Black Rose from the album of the same title was a nice touch and shows the combination of Irish and Rock traditions perfectly.

It's almost 25 years since Phil Lynott died so it's nice to see that such a unique performer hasn't been forgotten. I'm hoping that they will do justice to the later albums next year.